Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/525174
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 JUNE 2015 5 News HAVE YOUR SAY 4JHOVQBOEMPHPOUP.50CTFSWFSBOEIBWFZPVSTBZPO FWFSZUIJOHGSPNDVSSFOUBõBJSTUPMPDBMUSFOETXJUIUIF DIBODFUPXJOQSJ[FTJOPVSXFFLMZDPNQFUJUJPOT.50CTFSWFS JTZPVSDIBODFUPDPOUSJCVUFUPUIFGBTUQBDFEXPSMEPGUIF NFEJBBOEMFOEZPVSWPJDFUPUIFEJTDVTTJPO 7JTJUPCTFSWFSNBMUBUPEBZDPNNU Solution to emphyteusis law lies in 'increasing miserly rents' MIRIAM DALLI THE government is in the proc- ess of conducting a social impact assessment to see how increasing "miserly rents" paid to landlords would impact the tenants. "The solution calls for an increase in the rent paid. I know this is not a popular solution but the other op- tion would be facing eviction," Jus- tice Minister Owen Bonnici said. The minister was replying to questions raised by tenants dur- ing a public consultation meeting with members of the Cabinet. The issue revolves around tenants of rent-controlled properties who are enjoying low rents thanks to the 1979 law that converted tempo- rary leases into permanent rental contracts. For years, tenants whose leases turned into rental contracts en- joyed their properties at ridicu- lously low annual rents. But now, judgments from the European Court of Human Rights in Stras- bourg have left the government with no choice but to amend the laws – or face having to pay mil- lions in compensation claims and damages in both national and Eu- ropean courts. The government now intends to bring these leases created by the 1979 law, in line with the recent rent legal amendments of 2009 – a sure guarantee that landlords will be paid higher rents on these prop- erties. According to its action plan, the amendments will create a mecha- nism for the revision of the rent, as well as limit the inheritance of tenements, include the introduc- tion of a means test, and also cre- ate measures to revert the leases to their owners. Under the 1979 Act, which amended the Housing Decontrol Ordinance, a temporary emphy- teusis gets automatically convert- ed into a permanent rental agree- ment, but this has been found to be illegal by both the Maltese Consti- tutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights. Tenancies cannot be inherited any longer and will be subject to a cut-off date for persons residing with the tenant for four years out of the last five years, but new rental payments will be determined by a means test. "The solution lies in adjusting the rent," Bonnici said. With questions varying from culture to local councils, the public consultation with the Ministry for Justice and Central Government saw Owen Bonnici facing ques- tions over the Gaffarena expropri- ation deal and the works-for-votes scandal. The audience raised questions over whether beneficiaries of the works-for-votes scheme in Gozo would have to face the conse- quences for their actions; another one pointed out that while "some struggle to make ends meet, others keep on receiving". The minister, echoing comments given yesterday by the Prime Min- ister in parliament, said that he as well had a lot of unanswered ques- tions over the expropriation of the building in Old Mint Street. Bonnici said he too wanted to get to know the facts surrounding the case and said there was an investi- gation by the Auditor General and another by the Internal Audit and Investigation Department under- way. "Like the rest of you, I await the results of the inquiry to see what happened." On the Gozo case, Bonnici said the government's interest was to see that any wrongdoing is report- ed and consequences faced. Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and parliamentary secretary for central government Stefan Buontempo Eight Mater Dei corridor deaths in 16 months TIM DIACONO EIGHT patients have died in the corridors of Mater Dei Hospital between January 2014 and April 2015, Health Minister Konrad Mizzi confirmed. Speaking in response to a se- ries of parliamentary questions by shadow health minister Clau- dette Buttigieg, Mizzi added that eight patents died in Mater Dei's corridors throughout 2012, when the Nationalist government was in power. Mizzi also revealed that 2,500 patients were treated in Mater Dei's corridors throughout 2014, a sharp contrast to the 8,118 such patients in 2012. In response to a third question by Buttigieg, Mizzi said that the corridor that links the Emergen- cy Department to the Medical Imaging section has a capacity of 35 beds. These beds had an average occupancy rate of 43% between January 2014 and April 2015.